


Hayato's Big Day

by HapaxLegomenon



Category: Free!
Genre: Brotherly Love, Challenge: Sports Anime Shipping Olympics | SASO 2015, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Hayato idolizes Makoto, Kisumi thinks everything about Hayato is cute though, it's very cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-15
Updated: 2015-06-15
Packaged: 2018-04-04 14:51:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4141890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HapaxLegomenon/pseuds/HapaxLegomenon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Today was a Big Day, and it was going to be So Much Fun.  Kisumi made sure to play that up, how Much Fun today was going to be, because Hayato was looking uncertain and wobbly-faced when he should be excited.</p><p>Edit and re-post from SASO15 BR1</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hayato's Big Day

**Author's Note:**

> Edited slightly and re-posted from an entry written for the SASO2015 Bonus Round 1
> 
> Prompt: “Sometimes being a big brother is even better than being a superhero.

Today was a Big Day, and it was going to be So Much Fun.  Kisumi made sure to play that up, how Much Fun today was going to be, because Hayato was looking uncertain and wobbly-faced when he should be excited.  Today was a Big Day, and it was a lot of pressure, but Kisumi would be damned if he let his little brother go into his first race thinking it was going to be anything other than So Much Fun.

“Swimming is fun, right?  Right?”  He waited for Hayato to nod – or to shrug, okay, that was close enough, they still had time to work on that.  “Remember when you did the relay and you did the backstroke for the first time?  Wasn’t that fun?”  A tentative nod.  “See?  It’s going to be fun.  I bet nobody else will be doing the backstroke.”

Hayato finally smiled at that.  Kisumi grinned proudly and ruffled his hair.  “Alright!  This is going to be even more fun than the relay, I just know it!  And you’re gonna kick butt today!  Um.  Don’t tell mom I said that to you.”

“I won’t,” Hayato promised, giggling, and he reached up for Kisumi’s hand to walk to the swim club.  His hand was small but warm, like a tiny little hug around his fingers, and Kisumi absolutely could not resist sweeping Hayato up and onto his shoulders.  He shrieked in Kisumi’s ear – the volume was a little unnecessary, Kisumi thought, but the sound made him smile – and wrapped his arms around Kisumi’s head.

“You know, Hayato, when I play basketball I wear a headband right where your arms are.”

“I remember.  It’s purple.”

“It is!  Do you know what it does?”

Hayato shook a little back and forth on Kisumi’s shoulders – he tightened his grip around Hayato’s ankles and assumed that Hayato had shaken his head, too.  “It’s for keeping sweat out of my eyes when I’m playing.  Like how you wear goggles for swimming!  Maybe I should try wearing goggles for basketball, I wonder if that would work better than a headband.  Except, I think the headband is much cuter than goggles, so maybe I’ll stick with the headband after all.  But then again, _you’re_ much cuter than a purple headband.”  Hayato started to laugh.  “So maybe I should wear you instead!  What do you think?”

Hayato was laughing too hard to answer the question.  Kisumi silently congratulated himself on a job well done, until he announced that they’d arrived at the swim club and Hayato immediately clammed up again.

“Hey hey now.  Come on.”  He pulled Hayato over his head, then crouched down so they’d be able to look each other in the eye.  “This is going to be fun, remember?  It’s your first race!  It’s exciting, so don’t be nervous!”  Hayato nodded uncertainly.  “Good.  Oh,” he added, suddenly remembering, “And don’t worry, Makoto will be there, too!”

Hayato perked up at that.  “Coach Tachibana?”

“The one and only!  He emailed me a few days ago that he’s gonna be helping to run the races.  So you’ll get to show him how good your backstroke is now!  That’s pretty cool, right?”

Hayato nodded, looking determined.

“Right!  Okay, let’s go!”

The swim club was in chaos, full of kids in various stages of undress and parents in various states of emotion.  Hayato held tight onto Kisumi’s hand, but he was looking around with more interest than trepidation.  Probably looking for Makoto, Kisumi thought, and then grudgingly wondered if he needed to be worrying about Makoto stealing his little brother.  Makoto must have been busy elsewhere, though, because Kisumi got Hayato signed in and changed and sent off to the locker rooms to wait for his race without seeing him anywhere.

Most of the races were, admittedly, really boring.  It was only interesting when your own kid was participating, Kisumi supposed, pillowing his head in his arms and leaning on the railing of the upper observation deck.  Luckily the younger kids were going first so he wouldn’t have to wait long for Hayato’s race.

The only perk about the other races was getting to watch Makoto, who was looking incredibly sexy in his skin-tight suit and wet, ruffled hair as he helped the kids find their places and get in the pool.  And Kisumi did like a man who was good with kids.  He leered idly at Makoto while he waited.

Soon enough, Hayato’s group was called up, and Kisumi made sure to cheer as the kids walked out.  Hayato was looking nervous again, twisting his goggle straps and staring at his toes, and Kisumi viciously wished he could be by the poolside, where his brother needed him, rather than up on the balcony.

Instead, he had to make do by leaning over the railing and waving his arms and yelling Hayato’s name, hoping his brother would see him and smile.  Instead, he got Makoto’s attention.  Usually, Makoto’s attention was a nice thing to have, but it wasn’t exactly what he was going for today.  Although perhaps this would work out, too – Makoto looked up at Kisumi, then down towards Hayato, and then he crouched beside Hayato, saying something that Kisumi couldn’t even begin to try to hear from way up on the balcony.  He watched with bated breath until Hayato finally nodded and let Makoto help him with his swim cap and goggles.

“Gooo Hayato!” Kisumi yelled again, and this time he got the smile and wave he’d been hoping for.

Then the whistle blew, and the kids kicked off the wall. 

Kisumi made sure to whoop and holler and make a general spectacle of himself – he caught Makoto giving him amused looks from the poolside, and less-than-amused looks from the other spectators around him.  But he didn’t care, because Hayato was swimming and racing for the first time, and he had to make it a good experience for him.

“You did it!” Kisumi called in lieu of a greeting, meeting Hayato in the lobby after the race and swinging him up for a hug.  “You did it, I’m so proud of you!”

Hayato leaned against Kisumi’s shoulder – his hair stuck wetly to Kisumi’s cheek, trailing drips down his neck and dampening the collar of his shirt.

“I didn’t win, though,” Hayato said, a little disappointed.

“So what?  Did you have fun?”

Hayato nodded and shrugged at the same time.

“Then, it doesn’t matter if you won!” 

“I guess,” Hayato muttered, not sounding at all convinced.  Then, he squirmed a little bit and said, “Coach Tachibana said my swimming was good.”

Kisumi grinned at that.  Good old Makoto.  “Yeah?  Well, he’d know, he’s one of the best swimmers in Iwatobi!  And definitely the fastest at backstroke.  But you know what?  Not even Makoto wins all the time.”

“Really?”  Hayato looked at him, wide-eyed, amazed over the possibility that his hero could ever lose.

“Really really,” Kisumi confirmed.  Finally, Hayato smiled.  

“It heard you cheering,” he said shyly.  “Thank you.”

Kisumi had to bite his lip to keep from smiling so hard his face would fall off.  His brother was just too darn cute for his own good.  He kissed Hayato’s cheek – Hayato scrunched up his nose and rubbed at the spot, and even that was cute so he just had to kiss him again. 

“I’ll always cheer for you.  Okay?  Every time.  That’s what big brothers are for!”

“And you’re the best big brother!” Hayato added, nodding to punctuate his point and mimicking Kisumi’s cheek-kissing.

Kisumi’s heart felt like it was going to explode. 

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my second Free! fic. And both of them have been focused on my least favourite Free! characters. What? SASO does strange things. Nevertheless, I liked writing this little fic and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Concrit is always welcome, here or on Twitter at [@paxlegomenon](https://twitter.com/@paxlegomenon).


End file.
